{"id":4997,"date":"2019-09-22T08:00:18","date_gmt":"2019-09-22T13:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/braindevs.net\/blog\/blog\/?p=4997"},"modified":"2019-09-14T13:26:25","modified_gmt":"2019-09-14T18:26:25","slug":"yes-or-no-video-games-can-promote-emotional-intelligence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/yes-or-no-video-games-can-promote-emotional-intelligence\/","title":{"rendered":"Yes or No: “Video Games Can Promote Emotional Intelligence”?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Video games stir up passionate debates among teachers.<\/p>\n

Some of your colleagues (probably) argue that video games curdle our students’ wits, addle their morality, and disrupt their attention. (For instance: here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Others (probably) argue that games are the future of education, and we should be getting on board as fast as we can. (For instance: here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

As is so often the case, I think we should avoid sweeping generalizations<\/strong>. Instead, let’s look carefully at each specific research claim<\/em>, and see what trends develop over time.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A recent example: “can videogames be used to promote emotional intelligence in teenagers”?<\/p>\n

Recent Claims<\/h2>\n

That suggestion, in fact, is the title of a recent study<\/a> based on research in Italy. (In other words: I’m not exaggerating the claim. Those are their very words.)<\/p>\n

This study, alas, is behind a (steep!) pay wall, so I can’t be sure of all the specifics.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the study design looks promising. Some high-school seniors played 12 hours of a video game called “EmotivaMenta,” designed to be an “experienced based learning tool” to promote emotional intelligence.<\/p>\n

Compared to a control group, they improved at recognizing<\/em> their own emotions. And, they got better at managing<\/em> their emotions by cognitive revaluation. (That means what it sounds like: deliberately\u00a0thinking<\/em> your way through a problem to which you initially had a strong\u00a0emotional<\/em> reaction.)<\/p>\n

So, here’s one potential answer. Can video games promote emotional intelligence?<\/p>\n

YES<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Another, Better Answer<\/h2>\n

Let’s dig a little deeper.<\/p>\n

First<\/strong>, researchers note that these students got better at recognizing their emotions in the short term. But, when retested 3 months later<\/em>, they were no different from the control group. (The trend-line for the “cognitive revaluation” isn’t clear.)<\/p>\n

Second<\/strong>, the status of the control group isn’t clear. (Drat that paywall!) Was it an active<\/em> control group? That is, did they do something similar to a video game for 12 hours? Or, was it a “business as usual<\/em>” control group: just a bunch of students in the same school who didn’t do anything special?<\/p>\n

Of course, we’ll be more persuaded by an active control group than a BAU group.<\/p>\n

Third<\/strong>, notice that this was a specially designed<\/em> video game.<\/p>\n

When I read the title of the research, my first thought was that researchers had identified a commercially available game that, when used or framed the right way, increased emotional intelligence.<\/p>\n

That’s not what happened.<\/p>\n

Instead, it seems, they created a lesson about emotional intelligence in the form of a video game.<\/p>\n

So, here’s a different answer to our revised question. Can a lesson about emotional intelligence in the form of a video game influence Italian high-school students?<\/p>\n

In the short term YES–assuming the control group is active. But, in the longer term, it seems no.<\/em><\/p>\n

Case Closed?<\/h2>\n

Given those caveats, should we give up this effort? Should we conclude that video games can benefit perceptual capabilities<\/a>, but not emotional ones?<\/p>\n

My own view is: let’s keep looking<\/em>.<\/p>\n

After all, these researchers did have some success. Their study wasn’t a home run, but they did get some positive results.<\/p>\n

So, perhaps this game would work better if …<\/p>\n

…students played over a longer<\/strong> period of time, or<\/p>\n

…it were played by younger<\/strong> students, or<\/p>\n

…it were redesigned to include some cool new element<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

After all, if we can help adolescents with their emotional self-regulation, that’s a real win. ESPECIALLY if we can do it by having them play a game they enjoy.<\/p>\n

Simply put, I DON’T think we yet know the answer to this question. But, we DO have reason to believe that video games might be a promising avenue to continue investigating.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recent study from Italy gives us intriguing possibilities for helping adolescents manage their complex emotions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":4998,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[72,38,29],"class_list":["post-4997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lb-blog","tag-adolescence","tag-emotion","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4997"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5001,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4997\/revisions\/5001"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}